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Hopefully you'll be happy to know that Out of Time is finally DONE! Am I doing a dance of joy? You bet!
About Out of Time:
What if you found out that you'd traveled through time, changed the past and wiped out your family, and now you have to travel back in time and undo what you did?
That's the challenge facing Mel, my action-adventure, time-traveler. All she has to do to succeed is not fall in love with Jack Hamilton, the really cute Bomber pilot, or get caught by the enemy in World War II Occupied France. The 1940's, and Jack, might not be ready for a new millennium girl who can seriously kick butt.
The research for this book has been so fascinating. I've had the chance to type to some amazing B-17 pilots from The Greatest Generation, hear their stories and pick their brains. I owe them big time for their kindness now and for their bravery then. :-)
And so, finally, I can interview myself about the writing of this book!
Me: So, what was the most challenging part of writing this novel?
Myself: There were several challenges I had to overcome in writing this novel. First, was just the change in genre. While this has a lot of the elements of the suspense novel, it is more about over coming obstacles, than overcoming a specific villain or villains. I'm used to just killing someone when things slow down. Now, people do die in this book. It is about a war. But, they don't die as a result of villainous action, so they don't really kick up the action in the same way.
The other challenge of writing this book was capturing the historic
detail. It is really tough to write a historical novel and my respect for
the habitual historical author has increased one hundred-fold.
And the last challenge was finding the type of historical details that I needed to make the story come alive. I received a lot of help from former B-17 pilots, etc and they helped me with historical detail of that experience, but once my characters were in enemy territory...oh my!
Me: What did you particularly like about this book?
Myself: I really like Mel, the heroine of this story. She's gutsy and has
a sense of humor and don't mind admitting she's not happy with what's going
on. I also really like Jack, the bomber pilot-hero. This is the ultimate,
can't-happen romance, but I hope that I made this more than a romance. This
is a mutual journey to understanding that when you mess with life, it can
kick your trash. <g>
Me: What else is unusual about this book?
Myself: This is the first time I've had an acknowledgements page. And its a long list. The WWII veterans who helped me were amazingly kind and patient with my questions and with sharing their stories. There's a reason they are called the Greatest Generation.
Myself: (sigh) Yes, I did. I apparently really like to suffer for my art. It's not enough to write one, really hard book. No, I need to leave the door open for another! But it is hard to let go of these characters. They still want to be part of my life.
Myself: Probably more than any book I've written. I literally was pulling this one out of my butt (a method recommended by my daughter, Elizabeth, for when you're in a hole) as I wrote. Several times the characters provided the solutions to problems--and managed to surprise me.
Me: There is also something very special to you about this book, isn't there?
Myself: Yes. Beyond telling a good story (I hope!) I wanted this book to be something that my grandmothers would like, if they were still alive to read it. Mel's home, in the book is actually modeled after one of my Grandmother's houses. That sentence sounds clunky, but I can't figure out how to fix it.
I also didn't want it to be a German bashing book. The Germans are our allies and I have a friend in Germany, who I wanted to be able to read this book. Because my character is from this time, she has a unique perspective when she makes the leap into the past and the story reflects that perspective.
Me: Do you have anything else to add?
Myself: Just that I hope readers will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Me: That wraps up our Behind the Book interview! If you have a question for me or myself, (or even I), email me!
©2006 Pauline Baird Jones All Rights Reserved.